Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Swipper Nooooo...

(me sitting in airport in Denver waiting for plane)

I named these the Never Ending Socks as it seemed I would never get them done. No matter how much I tried to make time to work on them I constantly had to put them down to work on something else more urgent.

Furthermore, these socks were actually supposed to be for me! So of course I had to finish them!However, you know how some things don't turn out the way you want them too? I was showing my mom the socks the other day to point out the flaw in the stripping.

Can you see it? Look closely, notice the brown? That is right, missing an entire brown row! I didn't notice this until the entire sock was finished. Then, considering that I was using the stripes as the measurement for when to start my toe decrease, one sock is a little smaller than the other. I was willing to live with this little mistake to finally have my first pair of handknit socks but my mom saw it another way.

Like Swipper the Fox, she quickly reached out her hand and snagged the socks out of mine and shoved them in her robe...declaring them hers! All she needed to say next was "You're Too Late! You'll never find your precious socks now!"

One one hand, I am totally flattered; but on the other, I am totally bummed! I wanted those socks! Oh well, what is done is done. Funny thing is that she put the socks on immediately when she walked in the house (as we were standing next to my car because I was getting ready to leave) and stuck her foot out the door like a rockette to taunt me! If you ever wonder where I get it...now you know!

Luckily, she did let me at least take these pictures of them before she took them away forever.Maybe I will get to keep my next pair of socks. I just won't show ANYBODY unless they are on my feet...less likely to have somebody rip them off of me...but you never know huh?!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Okay, where was I? Oh that is right...knitting while waiting for the plane...

Hey, I crack a lot of jokes and such about my weight but I think in some twisted way it makes me feel better if I just lay it out there first before somebody else does. Kind of like I am in control. I don't know, I hope it doesn't bother you all. If it does, just go with the flow, for this post anyway!

Funny thing being the one of the largest people to get on an airplane. The whole time I was waiting to get on the plane I was looking at all the other passengers waiting with me, thinking to myself, man, that is a big boy, I sure hope he isn't in my row!

When I mentioned this to John he just laughed and reminded me that the other passengers were all thinking the same thing about us! We got a kick out of that and began to imagine he and I sitting next to another "biggin" (that is what we call ourselves...long story) all of us squished into our seats, trying not to bother one another! That would be our luck at this point.

Boarding call, flight ??? to Las Vegas is now boarding. Would rows 22-18 please board at gate 24? Here we go! All the way back, back, back to the very last seats. Really, I didn't think that these seats were going to be too bad but I took one look at the seats and knew that there was no way I was going to be able to put my knitting bag under the seat in front of me and be able to get it out during flight. So, just like I did at the check-in counter I began to riffle through my bag and pull out the Never Ending Socks so if I got the chance to work on anything I had them readily available; then I stuffed my bag in the overhead storage along with my purse and John's book :-)

We sat there patiently glaring at all the people getting on the plane, wondering who was going to be the lucky person sitting next to me with the window seat. John kept joking that the person in seat 22A had won the Golden Ticket! And you know, every person getting on the plane was thinking, man, that's a big couple, I hope I am not sitting next to them!

Sometimes I wish I could just look at the person getting ready to squeeze into my row and sit in the seat next to me that the seat is taken! How great would that be? To look them squarely in the eye and say nope, can't sit here! However, that was not the case.

We did get lucky in that the girl who sat next to me was really tired and slept the entire trip. And, it wasn't me who 'overflowed' into her seat rather, she started to move into my space. That was okay though, I didn't mind. It was not like she was reclining her seat into my face!

So, the flight is completely full with spring breakers and March Madness enthusiast going to wager on the games. As we take off and are warned that it was going to be a bumpy ride. Great, that's just what I wanted. John and I snuggled in for a nice little trip. We started out with his arm around me so we could conserve space; then when his shoulder began to hurt I would lean forward enough so his broad shoulders could have some room in the seat. It was working out nicely. Then,

It wasn't more than 15 minutes into the trip that the man in front of John pulled out of his bag some sort of 'brown bag special' that he packed for the ride. The smell was rancid! I think it was something like a meatloaf sandwich and sour cream and onion chips but I am not sure. What I am sure about is the permeating smell that wafted back into our faces. Seriously, I wanted to puke! This man was an idiot.

After the flight attendants cart passed us to start handing out drinks at the front of the plane working their way back to us this man in front of John decided that he was going to recline his seat. Now, poor John is 6'3'' so he is not a short man and needs a little leg room. Prior to the guy putting his seat back John had one leg under the seat in front of me and the other in front of him. Then, after the unfortunate turn of events he had to contort his body so one leg was out in the isle and the other just between the two seats in front of us. Why not keep his left leg under my seat? Well, if the guy in front of me decided to recline his seat too John's leg would have been pinned! I am not Sh*tting you! It was like John had the idiot in front of him laying between his legs!

But that is not all! Not 1 minute after reclining his seat the idiot gets up out of his seat, stumbles over John's foot in the isle and makes his way for the bathroom for at least 10 minutes. All the while, still leaving his damn seat reclined! I could not make this up! I did my best to try and push the seat back I couldn't get it all the way up. John was miserable!

Obviously the guy could see John was in an completely uncomfortable position! You would think that when the idiot made his way back to the seat and stumbled over John's foot, again, he would then put up his seat. NOPE...instead he just reclined it back to where it was before I had pushed it up a bit! I was laughing so hard in my seat I thought I was going to wet myself. If I could have wedged my way past John's knees and the seat in front of him I would have went to the bathroom but I thought it best to try and hold it! Poor John, he kept laying his head back like he was praying to God that he would tel-port him to Las Vegas! Then he began to laugh at the whole thing too.

We were sitting there, me leaned forward to try and give John as much room as possible behind me, the girl next to me almost acting like I was her body pillow, and John hands folded in front of him with a grown man laying between his legs. The situation was comical to say the least. Oh, but it gets better!

Remember the flight attendants serving drinks? Well, it was our turn. Again, they hit John's foot in the isle an he has to some how pull it back under the seat in front of him. The lady looked down the row across from us and asked them if they wanted anything to drink. Then, she looked down our row. Her gaze met with John's puppy dog plea for help eyes and she started busting up! She offered John any drink he wanted that it was 'on her' so he ordered a Jack and Coke. Me, I just ordered a Coke.

When she went to hand us the drinks John couldn't unfold his arms without hitting the seat in front of him so I had to get the drinks and put them on the tray in front of me. Just then, the man in front of me decides he is going to take a siesta and reclines his seat back too! NOT KIDDING! Here we are, the two biggest people on the plane, in the smallest leg room seats in the very last row,with complete strangers in our laps and me with the tray out pressed up against my stomach so we can have some drinks that I now have to figure out how to serve!

Here we go, with my arms bent at the elbow and pressed back as far as possible behind me I started to maneuver the drinks on the tray. Because of the guy in front of me being relined, I could not grasp the little bottle of Jack with my whole hand and reach across my body to poor it into the cup with the ice and coke in it. So, I grab it at the neck with my left pointer finger and middle finger, like a scissor hold (if I had my camera out I would have taken pictures but it was in the overhead compartment). Then, with my right pointer finger I pushed the cup over to the bottle so I could poor some of the Jack into it. So far, so good. I put the bottle down and push the cup back to the other side of the tray with my finger again towards John. Who now has to figure out how he is going to grab the cup and be able to drink from it without disturbing the delicate situation he was in! I swear, I felt like I was on some sort of bar tending challenge show!

After the whole drinking episode I thought that I would try to knit on my socks to kill time so I leaned as far forward as I could (with the guy in front of me still leaning back) and knit my socks while John sat miserably next to me sending voodoo vibes towards the idiot! Can you believe that this fool kept his seat reclined back the ENTIRE TRIP! It was miserable.

The highlight was when the flight attendants started to ask me questions about my socks. You know, talking about knitting always makes me feel better! They both told me that it looked too hard and I assured them that if I could do it on a plane, in a seat as small as this one with a complete strange nearly sitting in my lap, they could do it to! They laughed and said I must be right!

Finally, we arrived! The minute we were able to stand up John jumped out of his seat and just stood next to the galley in the back of the plane until we could get off!

We got our luggage relatively fast and made our way to the rental car booth. John was told by the lady that we needed to jump on the shuttle to the Hertz place and check in there since we had purchased our rental over the Internet. Okay, off to the shuttle.

Shuttle was not bad and it was only a few minutes away to the place. We jumped off and John bolted inside so he could beat everybody else that was on the shuttle with us. He was third in line and there where three people checking people in. GREAT! This shouldn't take any amount of time at all! WRONG!

We were there for an hour just to check in! For the first thirty minutes I had to watch one of the employees flirt with the two women he was getting a car for then walk them to their car and not come back for another 10 minutes. I looked at the guy sitting next to me and asked him if he thought the dude got their number.

I looked then at John who was totally ticked off! Finally, we get our minivan. Off to the Hotel.

By now it is 1:00 am (2:00 in Colorado). We are both tired as we had both gotten up at 4:00am that morning. Now, we had to fight the cabbies, drunk drivers, drunk pedestrians, street walkers, and beggars to get down the strip to our hotel. John drove while I looked at the map and directed him. This kind of teamwork doesn't usually work out too well as I am ALWAYS right and John doesn't think so :-) But, I think because of the sleep deprivation, we were just too tired to argue and he followed my direction directly to the hotel parking garage. We jokingly referred to ourselves as Kentucky from the Amazing Race. Thinking that if we were on the Amazing Race it would be a hoot since I don't have many patience when it comes to...well that is not entirely true, I have patience but I am so darn competitive that I get b*tchy when I am loosing. Anyway, that is neither here nor there.

The parking garage was packed full! When we finally got a spot I made sure to jot down the spot number as I had no idea where we were and I wasn't entirely sure I would remember what kind of car we were driving in the morning! Meanwhile, John pulled the bags out of the trunk and got us headed in the right direction. While walking to the elevators I started to mention to John that I just wanted to go check-in then go to bed so I didn't have to deal with any sluts.

Just then, three sluts jumped out of a Tahoe. People, I was almost embarrassed to having had even glanced their way! Their attire or lack there of was astonishing! One girl who looked like she was 18 was wearing a skin tight, black and white striped (like an old prison suit) Lycra dress that literally went just below her butt, wearing NO underwear, the front had a V-neck that went down to her navel and was laced up with a string, NO bra, HUGE hoop earrings and tons of makeup. Her partners in crime where dressed in a similar manner as well.

Wouldn't you know it that we were all, of course, going to the elevators together. I had made it up in my mind right then that there was no way in HELL I was getting on the elevator with these girls. However, I guess John didn't mind because when the elevator dinged he was right in line behind them to jump on! (hum...) I looked at him and said sternly "WE will wait for the next one!"

He looked at me and very quickly said "Okay". Good Boy! I had never felt more out of place in my life than standing there waiting for the elevator with those girls holding my knitting bag, wearing my crocheted poncho, no make up on and my hair in dismay. Man, I am getting old! I later found out that there is a raunchy night club at the Venetian called Tao which is where I am assuming these children were off to. YUCK!

Finally, we found our way to the concierge desk and began to check in with a lovely lady who was from Colorado Spring (which John called her every time we saw her on our trip...she seemed to like it). Everything was going just fine when CO. Springs had to go in the back for something. When she came back she told us that she was giving us a room with a view of the Strip for no extra charge. Finally, things seem to be going better...Lady Luck has smiled our way :-)

Then, CO. Springs slips into the conversation that the room has two queen beds instead of one king like we ordered. Woooo, Woooo, Woooo, wait a minute! Did I mention that John and I are not small people? We have a king at home because us sleeping on a queen is not comfortable and I refuse to go on vacation and sleep on a queen when I ordered a KING. John pipes up first and says that is not going to work. We don't care about the view, it is important for us to have a king bed. CO. Springs begins to tell us then that the hotel gave our room away and there were no more available kings. Any happiness I had just fizzled away at that moment.

"Look, I am not trying to be a difficult person here," I said, "but we have three kids at home and my husband and I don't get to go on vacation much. This trip was a chance for us to sleeping together in the same bed without any kid related interruptions. Now, a queen bed is not going to cut it as we are NOT SMALL PEOPLE. We NEED a king size bed so please don't mistake my hostility for being spoiled or something." Long pause..." Is there anyway to look at the suites for a king and upgrade us to that for no charge?"

CO. Springs goes in the back again which I am guessing is the VIP services or something and returned with the approval to give us a King Bed Suite. We get our keys and we are off to bed!

Oh man, I couldn't wait to jump into bed and get some sleep. We get to the door and open it up to an amazing room! I walk in and John walks in behind me and says "Damn"!I took a video of the room but can't get it to upload to YouTube so these few pictures will have to do...sorry!

This room was great! The bathroom was great! The sitting area was great! I am telling you, this room made up for all the crap we went through for the past 12 hours. Especially that tub. I dropped my things and immediately filled the tub with hot water and bubbles and soaked for 30 minutes with no interruptions. Well, almost no interruptions.

It was when we hit the room that John got his little interruption. While I was in the tub he was on the toilet. Poor guy had a rough day. After he cleared his system he jumped in the shower to wash off the day and we went to bed.

Okay, if you are still with me to this point...thank you!

I will stop the post here and talk about the rest on the next post. Including:

Worlds Best breakfast Buffet

Drive to Alamo for Rapport Graduation

Dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib (YUM)

Driving

Our Big Night of Fun

Yarn Shop :-)

Plane Ride Home

I told you this story was a long one!

FYI: I just finished my most recent Felted Crochet Handbag and I am totally in LOVE! I am calling it Firecracker. As soon as the post about the Vegas Trip conclude I will post about that! Oh, I can't hardly wait!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Stays in Vegas! And THANK GOD for that as John had the runs/poops/shits ALL weekend!Can you believe it? The one time we think we are actually going to go on a trip and not have some sort of medical emergency, he has to spend almost every other hour on the pot! UGHHH!

*This is going to be a couple day post as it is a long story and I don't want people to get bored :-)*

Okay, let's start at the beginning :-)

Well, I spent all day Thursday tying up loose ends. You know what I mean, finishing ALL the laundry ( I even mean that one basket of clothes in the corner of the laundry room that you tell yourself can wait till next time...or am I the only one with that kind of basket?), packing the kids, bathing the kids, dressing the kids, feeding the kids, threatening the kids with every inch of their lives that they better obey my sister or brother or parents, confirming drop off times with my family, etc. Needless to say, Thursday was jammed packed.

I dropped all the kids off at 4:00 clear across town (approx. 45 minutes) which gave me enough time to get home, take shower myself and pack my knitting bag and my clothing bag before John got home. He got home at 5:45 and needed to take a shower and pack his bag as well. Here is where the fun began...

Is it me or does every married couple who goes on a trip argue about what bag to take or how many bags to take? I mean, come ON! Does it really matter if I want to bring two bags for a two day trip? Does is really bother you that much that you have to make a big deal out of it? It's not like we are cramming into a BMW Mini or anything, we rented a minivan! And no, I don't really want to pack our stuff in the same bag to save space! And furthermore, you can carry on your own bag, you are NOT allowed to put a book in my knitting bag! I don't care how small it is! I want to have my own bag...my own stuff...my own space...mine, mine MINE! (sound like a 3 year old)

Oh well, I didn't prevail in that argument. He and I ended up with one HUGE suitcase (did you know that it can only weigh 50 lbs to get on the plane? Important to note that!) and a smaller duffel bag that was only partially full (refer back to previous parenthesis). Then of course, as I am packing the bags he is questioning everything I am bringing. "Do you need that? You know it is only a couple of days. How many shoes are you bringing? When are you going to wear a dress?"

That was it! I looked him straight in the eye and said I was a 29 year old mother of three and I was finally going on a trip, on a plane, to hotel, with the man I love, for two whole days, WITHOUT KIDS! So, if I wanted to wear a dress and heals to go down the hall to get some FRICKEN ICE from the machine I had every right to do so! BACK OFF BUDDY! It was after that little outburst that he let me finish packing the suitcase all by myself.

Our flight left at 10:30pm so we got to the airport around 7:30. Just to make sure we could check in and get our seats together. Noticing that there was a self check-in counter for those people who had e-tickets I quickly got into that line.

You wouldn't think that getting our seats together would be that difficult but see, we had to purchase our tickets on two separate credit cards since we purchased mine and his company purchased his. Two separate cards means, two separate check-ins. Can you see where this could get complicated? I asked the lady behind the desk if I should just have her check us in to make SURE we could get our seats together. "No, No" she said, " it shouldn't be a problem". I then explained to her the two credit card thing and again, "no, no, not a problem". All righty then. Click, click, click...checked in seat 19c. Click, click, click...checked in seat 17d...UM....that is a problem.

I look at the lady and just ask her if she could please change our seats. She looked at me like I was holding her up too long with my asinine questions. With a huff from her mouth, she started typing on her computer. "I can put you across from one another?" I look at John and see the shear panic on his face.

See, obviously John and I are not small people and seats on a plane are small. Ever seen Tommy Boy "Fat guy in a little coat?" So, the one good thing about traveling with one another is that we can lean into one another instead of the strangers sitting next to us. Get what I mean?

John tells the lady, politely, that it is important to him that we sit together. She looks at him like he is some sort of idiot. She then tells him "yes sir, I understand that you want to sit next to her, that is why I am getting you two seats across from one another. Across the isle".

Having had about enough of the testy attitude, it was at this point that I look her strait in the eye and I told her in not so unmistakable terms that it is important that we sit next to each other in the same row because we are BIG people and we don't want to OOZE over into other peoples seats...we prefer to squish into each other! That got her attention and she gave us the very last two seats available together on the plane. Seats 22 b & C. The very last seats on the plane...you know what that means don't you? The back of the plane, next to the bathroom, first to get on the plane; last to get off, these seats don't recline and sit straight up and I swear they have less leg room than any other seat! Can you see where this is going?

It was then time to get our tags on our luggage. What's that...No...it can't be over weight...I knew we should have packed our own bags! I had to rearrange OUR luggage right there in front of the check-in counter in order to get OUR suitcase under 50 lbs. Thank God I had not totally packed the duffel bag so I had some space to shove John's jeans into it :-) The lady behind the counter was totally disgusted by this point with the amount of time we were taking up in her line. You could see that she was thinking that we couldn't even get this part of the check-in process right. So, I looked at the lady and jokingly said, "Big people=Big clothes=Heavy!" She didn't laugh. I thought is was funny; but hey, you can't win them all.

After we got our boarding passes we thought we would try out one of the restaurants in the terminal for dinner. Big Mistake! We ate at Mesa Verde in concourse A mezzanine (if you are ever at DIA DON'T EAT THERE!) We waited 15 minutes to see a waitress, we waited another 30 minutes to get our food, and we waited another 15 minutes for drink refills.

Then there is the food, it was disgusting! John couldn't finish his at all and I found a hair half way down my ranch dressing that I was using to dip my buffalo wings into! The manager came and took care of our bill and then we waited another 10 minutes for our waitress to come and take our payment for the drinks but she never showed. This is a nightmare of a meal! We are finally out without the kids and look at how it is turning out! So, John just went to the bar and paid leaving NO TIP which is unheard of for him. He had a hair cut the other day where the lady cut a large chunk of hair by mistake and he tipped her $3.00. That is how bad this service was.

By the time we finished our meal it was time to go and wait for the plane to arrive. While I waited I worked on the NEVER ENDING SOCKS!

John snapped this picture of me and I snapped this one of him...

Well, we think it was the food at Mesa Verde that made John sick. He actually was telling me just after this picture was taken that his stomach didn't feel good. Then of course, it was as soon as we landed in Vegas that he started having to go to the bathroom.

That is where I am going to end this first segment of the trip.

In the next I will talk about

the plane ride out there,

the car rental place,

the slut!

the hassle to get our room

the best breakfast buffet ever!

OH, what did I bring in my Knitting Bag? Well, I decided that I didn't have enough time to wind anything up into a ball so I took the Never Ending Sock, the Trekking Sock scored in a bet (go colts), and the Crochet Felted Bag I am working on. I thought that was enough to get me through the couple of days.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

My sister called me on Tuesday and said that she was in a lot of pain and thought she might be going into labor. I thought, naaaa, you are just having some pre-term false labor stuff...but I didn't tell her that, thank God. Instead, I told her she should call her doctor to let them know and see what he wanted her to do.

FYI: having this baby NOW was both good and bad.

Good because she was getting HUGE and was totally MISERABLE;

Bad because she was not due for another 4 and a half weeks!

Well, needless to say, after calling the doctor, Michelle went in to the hospital at 9:00pm and was dilated to 6! Mom called me and before I got off the phone I had grabbed my purse, grabbed some TLC Wiggles yarn (since I hadn't finished anything for the baby yet because I thought I had four more weeks!), and grabbed my knitting bag. I told John bye and headed for the hospital.

When I got there she was at a 7.5, the baby was pretty high up in the canal or uterus or whatever :-) and her water had not broke yet. Because she was all calm and pretty well under control of her emotions the first thing I asked her when I walked in the room was if she was on any drugs :-) After all, why go through labor without drugs if you don't have to? Just as I asked her the anastesiologist walked in...or as I like to call him "the angel sent from God".

While we were waiting for little Wyatt to join our lovely family I was frantically crocheting him a little hat. No pattern, just started with a ch3, joined and increased from there to what I thought was a good size then worked the stitches so it would create a hat and not a doily :-)

I love passing the time in the delivery room crocheting or knitting. The wait is almost unbearable without anything to do so at least with my hands busy I am not staring at the monitor or bothering the mommy-to-be! I also find that it is a good conversation starter since people want to know what you are making, who is it for, how long you have been doing it, yadda-yadda.So, after a couple of hours I finished the hat and still no baby. You would think that this being her third the baby he would just zoom on out, you know what I mean? I nurse kept coming in to reposition the monitor on her stomach and to let Michelle know that the doctor didn't want to break her water yet, and that the doctor was still at home but wanted the nurse to continue calling her with the updates.

Alright, brief pause for vital information: this is NOT her regular doctor, this is the doctor on call! Okay, let me tell you all what I am thinking at this point...

Dr. who shall not be named,

Get off your sweet A** and get down here! Lady, this baby delivery stuff may be routine for you but isn't it possible that something could be wrong with this delivery since my sister has had two other kids with no pre-term complications and now she is in the hospital in labor 4 and a half weeks early? Don't you think you should at least come on down here to check out the situation for yourself instead of relying on a NURSE to tell you things? Even if it is to comfort the mother and let her know what is going on? After all, IT IS YOUR responsibility to come and take care of the mother and the baby; even IF it is 2:00AM in the Fricken MORNING!!

Nope, the doctor never showed up! Can you believe it? Around 2:00am I went home because I had to make sure I was home in time for John to leave at 5:00am for work. I figured I would take Allura to school then go to the hospital. But Wyatt couldn't wait that long :-)

At 9:00am Wednesday morning, a different doctor came into Michelle's room (after the first doctor called him to let him know that Michelle was probably ready to deliver so he better go to her room first). He broke her water, saw a lot of blood clots come out along with excessive amounts of amniotic fluid and got worried. He said that it was imperative that they get that little one out so he had Michelle start to push even though she was not fully dilated. He then put his hand inside her to make sure the babies head was ready to go though the birth canal and noticed that little Wyatt's hand was over his head. So, the doctor pushed on the babies head to allow the hand to go down and OOPS...the baby came flying out!

No warning, no camera, no pushing, no screaming, no family in room except Mark (Michelle's husband)...just BABY! 9:30am healthy little baby boy, 7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches. The NICU nurses looked at the doctor when they came in the room and questioned "this is the premie?"

Wyatt was a big baby for being 4 and a half weeks early; could you imagine if she had went full term? His appgar score was high but he had swallowed some of the blood clots during delivery so his little stomach was pumped. And, because he is premature his little lungs are struggling which means his blood/oxygen is low. Also, the reason his little hand are was positioned up above his head was because the umbilical cord was abnormally long and was wrapped around his arm and his neck! We are very fortunate that his arm was in the way or the baby could have been strangled! (again, in my mind, maybe the first doctor would have noticed that if she would have come down to the hospital to check on my sister!) Anyway, little Wyatt is in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) and is expected to be there until the middle or late next week.

We (the kids and I) went to the hospital on Thursday to check on Michelle and the baby.

(got her permission to post this shot even though it is not the most flattering...give her a brake...she just had a baby)

We could see the baby since he was in the NICU with an oxygen hood over his head and a feeding tube in his umbilical cord. You know, keep the "unessential" people out cause there are some really sick babies in there who don't need yours or my germs! But is was good to see Michelle and talk to her. I don't know how she is doing it but she is handling this all really well. She went home yesterday and had to leave her baby at the hospital....that would just kill me.

I know I have a few blogger friends who have had to go through so much more with their children and I have the deepest amounts of sympathy for them too! That has to be so tough to have to leave YOUR BABY behind. I mean, of course she is back there every waking hour she can. Her inlaws drove out here to help out with the other two kids while Michelle and Mark tend to Wyatt. Michelle says that the baby is not getting any worse but the progress is really minimal. You know, God takes time to heal and I believe that he is working here in Wyatt's little life! Please keep him in your prayers.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Made it back in one piece! Man, do they make those airplane seats small or what?

I have so much to share with all of you but not right now. I will do my best to write a full post tomorrow with LOTS of pictures!

So, please Wait For It :-)

In the mean time, ponder this for a moment...

Have you all had trouble with Microsoft Explorer? Me TOO! I have been having trouble with it for some time now and a friend of mine suggested a FREE browser called FireFox. I LOVE IT!

You too can get it...just click on the link on my sidebar! That is right, I liked it so much I put a link to it on my blog! That in and of itself should tell you something. Really, Click and Check it out!

Kids farmed out to the E-N-T-I-R-E family for two whole nights (you know what they say, "it takes a village") meanwhile, tonight John and I are "lea-ving, On a jet plane!" Can you believe it? We are actually going on a trip...not a long trip...but a trip non the less! We leave tonight and get back into town Saturday afternoon!

Why you ask, well, John had to go to Vegas for business so I thought I would get a ticket and tag along. He doesn't seem to mind :-) I am good company so who wouldn't mind, really! LOL!

Anyway, you all know what my most stressful part about going on a trip is? (not including the flying itself) That's right, deciding what project I want to bring? There are three options at the top and I need your help!

Considering that most of the trip I will be either in a plane or a car I thought it best to bring socks. But, I don't know which ones! So VOTE PLEASE!

I will let you know how the trip went when I get back. Hopefully, John will let me find a good yarn store around there...but I am not holding my breath. Oh well, it will be fun anyway!

Okay, time to vote!Hey "Blogliners": Poll on sidebar of blog so please check it out!!

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

February 27th was a night to remember for me. First of all, I was actually able to go out to dinner with a bunch of my girlfriends and have a meal that consisted of actual ADULT CONVERSATION (get you mind out of the gutter :-) I mean, not once did I have to look at Tara and tell her to stop using her fingers to eat her pasta or snap at Starry for blowing bubbles in her Sprite or threaten Jill with a time out if she didn't stop poking Tara. A meal with peace and quite is so far and few between these days.

Second of all, I followed up a great meal by going to a YARN SHOP, for a BOOK SIGNING, and a YARN TASTING, and once again NO KIDS! The best part of all is that...wait for it...NO CURFEW! Happy Knitter Hallelujah... I was able to party the night away. Well, that is party as much as a 29 year old mother of three who is used to going to bed at 9:00 can. You all know what I mean. OH, but I am here to tell you, I was on such a high (must have been the wool fumes) I think I stayed up until 1:00am. Don't get too excited...I got home at 10:30 but I stayed up until 1:00 because I couldn't fall asleep! It is not often a night with that much excitement happens to me.

Okay, let me start at the beginning.

Around the start of the year my friend Jill, her mother (hi Carol...leave me a comment would ya?) and I went to the largest Yarn Shop in the United States: Showers of Flowers. Both Jill and her mum (she is from England and I think that is what they call their mom's out there, isn't it?) were SOF virgins, so I was more than happy to "pop their Cherry Tree Hill" as it were (is that too graphic?) Again, great time because we didn't have any of our kids! Anyway, while were were perusing around the sock yarn; with me trying to convince Carol that she simply had to give socks a go, the owner of SOF, Sharron came up to see how we were doing. GREAT of course!

She then happened to tell us that they had just booked Vickie Howell to come to the shop in February. I was so excited. I LOVE Knitty Gritty, I record every episode on my DVR so I can watch them over and over. It was on the episode of the socks where I learned how to Purl continental...but I digress! So, I asked Sharron for the details and she said that Vickie was coming on the 27th of February, there were only 100 seats available so they were going to have a sign up sheet, and she was going to do a demonstration, a question and answer and the book signing. Huh, what was I to do?

That's right, I was the FIRST person to sign up along with the seven of my friends that I signed up too! Yep, I am a groupie! I even called periodically over the next two months to make sure that my name was on the list (along with my friends) just in case I some how was taken off. Don't ask me how I would have been taken off, I didn't know how, I just knew that it made me feel better to call and make sure I was on the list...okay, back off! Rant over. No really, every time I called the lovely ladies would tell me the same thing.

"Yes, Marlaina, you are on the top of our list. That is right, number one, along with Starry, Jill, Jenn, Kara, Laura, Tara, and Janene. Okay, Marlaina, I will see you soon. Bye, bye".

But hey, they are a yarn shop. They are used to dealing with fanatical people, right? Okay, so I signed up my friends and myself but here is the kicker...my friends had no idea that they were going to join me for this, I just signed them up KNOWING that they would want to come! Of course, I called them all to tell them that they were going and of course they all agreed; and of course as the day rolled around only three of them showed up to dinner on the night of the 27th. But hey, that is OKAY! We had a good time anyway.

All right, all right, let's be fair. The ones that didn't come all had great excuses

volunteering time to painting the new church,

cleaning up her house in order to put it on the market in two days,

going out of town on a surprise trip that her husband planned to Steamboat Springs,

her husband having to work because they were going on an unexpected trip to Arizona and they needed the money.

Again, all valid excuses, but I wish they all could have come. They were missed.

However, the four of us did have a great time!

Above: Tara and MarlyBelow: Starry and Jill

See how happy we are? Totally hopped up on fumes and excitement and anticipation! Vickie's plane was THREE hours late so she was late getting to the shop. I told the GM, Micheal, that telling us she was late was just a ploy to keep us there longer so we would buy more yarn.

Evil, pure evil I tell you; because it worked! I bought some of the new Tofutsie sock yarn in the Off on the Right Foot colorway (it reminds me of an Easter Egg so I am going to work with it next month for my SAM KAL) that SWTC just put out and the book Socks Soar on Two Circular Needlesby Cat Bordhi and of course the new book that Vickie was promoting. I am such a sucker; never am I able to go into a yarn store and walk out empty handed. Thank God my husband knows this and is somewhat understanding...and I stress somewhat.

The wait was not bad though, we got to sit and talk to each other and the other knitters; I worked on my socks while Jill worked on a scarf. Tara and Starry didn't bring anything to work on so they were a bit out of the loop so they enjoyed the atmosphere (and the chocolate chip cookies, yum). The best part about the wait was that another well known author was in the crowd and was willing to stand up to talk about her book. Her name is Anne McClauley and her book is The Pleasures of Kniting: Timeless Feminine Sweaters.

Ann had actually been a guest on Knitty Gritty in an episode that just aired on February 16 called Delightful Details. Great show, I really enjoyed that one since they weren't necessarily making anything just really showing great stitches and detailing you could do to enhance your knitting. Anyway, Ann stood up in front of the, oh, 100 of us for the better part of an hour talking about her book and about movement. I know sounds a little odd to talk about movement at a yarn store but it was really interesting.She is a dance and movement instructor at the National Theatre Conservatory of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy ( I sound like a publicist huh?) as well as an avid knitter. It was great to hear her talk about specific tips to help us knitters and crocheters take care of our body since we are perfoming a repetative movement sometimes for several hours! (can I get an AMEN?) Such as, sitting properly. She said that we have "sit bones" that act as our feet when we are sitting to help keep our back and neck aligned. Also, keep both feet on the floor because that helps your body stabilize and stay grounded; take breaks from your work and stretch out the muscles; "scrub" your fingers to help ease tension; hold your needles up to your eyes rather than on you lap and nodding your head down to see your work. Putting your head down puts extra strain on your neck! Sound familiar? She has a section in her book about some of these things so get her book and read all about it :-)

Hearing Ann talk was a wonderful treat; I think this is what Tara liked best of all since she is into Yoga. Tara is a crocheter and doesn't' really watch Knitty Gritty much; however, like a true friend, she came along for the fellowship of it all. Then, she got something great out of it. I am glad she really enjoyed it as much as I did.

Okay, so Vickie finally got there and she looked great. She apologized for her appearance as she put her makeup on in the cab on the way over but she had nothing to worry about; she was lovely.So, I was worried that she would not be as great in person as she seems to be on t.v. But I was pleasantly pleased that she was just as personable in person as she comes across on the t.v.Wild and Wacky, Down to Earth, Funny, Genuine, a real Joy. We were all able to ask her questions and get straight forward answers without any holding back. Did I ask a questions? Of course I did. I happened to ask her if she reads all the comments that are left for her on her blog or if "her people" take care of that for her. She told me that yes she reads every one and the reason she makes it so the comments must be approved is because she gets nasty comments every now and again. Like any other person, she doesn't want the negative crap to over shadow the other things. Cool!

I think the best thing all night was finding out how she became the host of Knitty Gritty. Literally, she was in her PJ's and slippers feeding her two little boys breakfast when she got an email from the producers of the show asking her if she knew of anybody who was fresh, hip, edgy and wanted to host a knitting show on the DIY network. HELLO! Prayers answered right over cyber space. Vickie replied that she was interested in the job, flew to Los Angeles to interview of the job and was hired. How did they know to email her? She had started a stitch and bitch and had posted about in over the web with key words like fresh, hip, edgy so when the producers did a Google search they found her. Great story huh? The rest is history.

Just goes to show you, God is always working for you. He never takes a break; not even for breakfast!

The yarn was really...really...better than I expected; if I am being honest. The feel of it is just right and the unusual fibers that are used to make it makes it that much more interesting. I fell in love with LOVE. My future will include a project of some sort in this wonderful yarn; I promise :-) Another great thing is that SWTC is currently looking for patterns using these new yarns. If you contact Jonelle at soysilk.com she will give you the 411. So, all you designers out there get to work!

So, the night ended with me getting my book signed and a picture taken of Vickie and myself. Talk about the tall fat girl standing next to the skinny short girl (who had 4" heels on...no joke, she showed us)! Oh well, I had a great time!Next big outing will be on April 5th when the Harlot comes to Denver! I can't wait!

Monday, March 05, 2007

I have been working on these a little here, a little there for the past three months. Yes, you read that right, MONTHS. Those of you who know how fast I knit most likely don't believe it but I assure you, it is true.

I was given this yarn by Kara in late December to make her a pair of socks. I started them right away and got the first sock done in two days. The second sock was a different story. I started it; put it down for a week or two; started it some more; put it down to work on other things; started it; put it down after only a few rows after I realized that I had a project that HAD to get done before the super bowl ; then I didn't pick it up for over a month. Well, the time was now to get it finished. Saturday I picked it up for the last time and do you know that it only took me two hours to finish the sock?

Finally, I am done with them. I think what took so long was that I wasn't really happy with the needle size I used (us. size 8) because it made the stitches too far apart. I have never used that size needle before and I deffinately won't do it again. Usually I like to use a size 4 needle with Wool-Ease. It makes the stitches really nice and tight so I will go back and do that.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Movie Fan?I stole this from Allegra, who took it form Michelle who lifted this from Kim. Since I love Movies I thought this would be cool to do as a little something different on the blog today.

It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 345 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show

(X) Grease

(X) Pirates of the Caribbean

(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest

( ) Boondock Saints

(X) Fight Club

( ) Starsky and Hutch

(X) Neverending Story

( ) Blazing Saddles

( ) Airplane

(X) The Princess Bride

(X) AnchorMan

(X) Napoleon Dynamite

(X) Labyrinth

( ) Saw

( ) Saw II

( ) White Noise

(X) White Oleander

(X) Anger Management

(X) 50 First Dates

(X) The Princess Diaries

(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

(X) Scream

(X) Scream 2

( ) Scream 3

( ) Scary Movie

( ) Scary Movie 2

( ) Scary Movie 3

( ) Scary Movie 4

(X) American Pie

(X) American Pie 2

(X) American Wedding

( ) American Pie Band Camp

(X) Harry Potter 1

(X) Harry Potter 2

(X) Harry Potter 3

(X) Harry Potter 4

( ) Resident Evil 1

( ) Resident Evil 2

(X) The Wedding Singer

(X) Little Black Book

(X) The Village

(X) Lilo & Stitch

(X) Lilo & Stitch 2

(X) Stitch the Movie

(X) Finding Nemo

(X) Cars

(X) Bugs Life

(X) Monsters Inc.

(X) Toy Story

(X) Toy Story 2

(X) Land Beforetime

(X) Willy Wonka (old version)

(X) Willy Wonka (new version)

(X) Finding Neverland

( ) Signs

(X) The Grinch

( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre

( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

( ) White Chicks

( ) Butterfly Effect

(X) 13 Going on 30

(X) I, Robot

(X) Robots

(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

( ) Universal Soldier

(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events

(X) Along Came Polly

( ) Deep Impact

( ) KingPin

(X) Never Been Kissed

(X) Meet The Parents

(X) Meet the Fockers

( ) Eight Crazy Nights

( ) Joe Dirt

(X) King Kong

(X) A Cinderella Story

( ) The Terminal

(X) The Lizzie McGuire Movie

( ) Passport to Paris

(X) Dumb & Dumber

( ) Dumber & Dumberer

( ) Final Destination

( ) Final Destination 2

( ) Final Destination 3

( ) Halloween

( ) The Ring

( ) The Ring 2

( ) Surviving Christmas

( ) Flubber

(X) Herby

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

(X) Harold & Mod

(X) Practical Magic

(X) Chicago

( ) Ghost Ship

( ) From Hell

( ) Hellboy

( ) Secret Window

(X) I Am Sam

(X) The Whole Nine Yards

( ) The Whole Ten Yards

(X) The Day After Tomorrow

( ) Child’s Play

( ) Seed of Chucky

( ) Bride of Chucky

(X) Ten Things I Hate About You

(X) Just Married

( ) Gothika

(X) Monsters Ball

( ) Nightmare on Elm Street

(X) Sixteen Candles

(X) Remember the Titans

(X) Armageddon

( ) Coach Carter

( ) The Grudge

( ) The Grudge 2

(X) The Mask

(X) Son Of The Mask

(X) Bad Boys

(X) Bad Boys 2

( ) Joy Ride

( ) Lucky Number Sleven

(X) Ocean’s Eleven

(X) Ocean’s Twelve

(X) Bourne Identity

(X) BourneSupremecy

( ) Lone Star

(X) Bedazzled

( ) Predator I

( ) Predator II

( ) The Fog

(X) Ice Age

(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

(X) Curious George

(X) Barn Yard

(X) Open Season

(X) Nacho Libre

(X) Flags of our Fathers

(X) Little Miss Sunshine

(X) It Could Happen to You

(X) Mission Impossible

(X) Mission Impossible 2

(X) Mission Impossible 3

(X) Lethal Weapon 1

(X) Lethal Weapon 2

(X) Lethal Weapon 3

(X) Lethal Weapon 4

(X) Pure Country

(X) 8 Seconds

(X) Nanny McPhee

(X) Independence Day

( ) Cujo

( ) A Bronx Tale

( ) Darkness Falls

( ) Christine

(X) E.T.

( ) Children of the Corn

( ) My Bosses Daughter

(X) Maid in Manhattan

(X) The Little Mermaid

(X) War of the Worlds

(X) Rush Hour

(X) Rush Hour 2

( ) Best Bet

(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

(X) She’s All That

(X) Calendar Girls

(X) Moulin Rouge

(X) Sideways

( ) Mars Attacks

( ) Event Horizon

(X) Ever After: A Cinderella Story

(X) Wizard of Oz

(X) Forrest Gump

(X) Big Trouble in Little China

(X) Overboard

( ) The Terminator

( ) The Terminator 2

( ) The Terminator 3

(X) X-Men

(X) X-2

(X ) X3

(X) Spider-Man

(X) Spider-Man 2

(X) Superman Returns

( ) Sky High

( ) Jeepers Creepers

( ) Jeepers Creepers 2

(X) Catch Me If You Can

(X) Cinderella

(X) Freaky Friday

(X) The Parent Trap (old version)

(X) The Parent Trap (new version)

( ) Reign of Fire

( ) The Skulls

(X) Cruel Intentions

( ) Cruel Intentions 2

( ) The Hot Chick

(X) Shrek

(X) Shrek 2

( ) Swimfan

( ) Miracle on 34th street

(X) Old School

(X) The Notebook

(X)While you Were Sleeping

(X) Steel Magnolias

( ) K-Pax

( ) Krippendorf’s Trib

( ) A Walk to Remember

( ) Ice Castles

( ) Boogeyman

(X) The 40-year-old Virgin

(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King

(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

( ) Base-ketball

(X) Basketball Diaries

( ) Hostel

( ) Waiting for Guffman

( ) House of 1000 Corpses

( ) Devils Rejects

(X) Elf

( ) Highlander

( ) Mothman Prophecies

( ) American History X

( ) Three

( ) The Jacket

( ) KungFu Hustle

( ) Shaolin Soccer

( ) Night Watch

(X) Titanic

(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail

(X) Shawshank Redemption

( ) Shaun Of the Dead

( ) High Tension

( ) Club Dread

( ) Hulk

( ) Dawn Of the Dead

(X) Hook

(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

(X) 28 days later

( ) Orgazmo

( ) Phantasm

( ) Waterworld

( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1

( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2

( ) Mortal Kombat

( ) Wolf Creek

(X) Kingdom of Heaven

( ) the Hills Have Eyes

( ) I Spit on Your Grave

( ) The Last House on the Left

( ) Re-Animator

( ) Army of Darkness

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace

(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones

(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sit

(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope

(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back

(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi

( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage

( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor

(X) The Matrix

(X) The Matrix: Reloaded

(X) The Matrix: Revolutions

( ) Animatrix

( ) Evil Dead

( ) Evil Dead 2

(X) Drop Dead Fred

( ) Team America: World Police

( ) Red Dragon

(X) Silence of the Lambs

(X) Hannibal

(X) Braveheart

(X) Shakespeare in Love

(X) Mulan

(X) Say Anything

(X) Love Stinks

(X) The Family Man

(X) In Her Shoes

(X) Serendipity

(X) The Sweetest Thing

(X) The Breakup

(X) Mr. and Mrs. Smith

(X) Little Women

(X) Poetic Justice

(X) Must Love Dogs

(X) The Pelican Brief

(X) Conspiracy Theory

(X) Notting Hill

(X) LegallyBlonde

(X) LegallyBlonde 2

(X) Charlies Angels

(X) Charlies Angels 2

(X) 40 Days and 40 Nights

(X) Zathura

(X) Jumanji

(X) Days of Thunder

(X) Goonies

(X) Minority Report

(X) Hitch

(X) Sea Biscuit

(X) Dr. Dolittle

(X) Dr. Dolittle 2

(X) Save The Last Dance

(X) Saving Private Ryan

(X) Gladiator

(X) As Good As It Gets

(X) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

(X) Indian Summer

(X) Back To The Future

(X) Back To The Future 2

(X) Back To The Future 3

(X) Men in Black

(X) Men in Black 2

(X) Bruce Almighty

(X) The Patriot

( ) Brokeback Mountain

(X) City Slickers

(X) City Slickers 2

(X) When Harry Met Sally

(X) Sleepless in Seattle

(X) League of Their Own

(X)Forget Paris

(X) French Kiss

(X) You've Got Mail

(X) Cast Away

(X) Philadelphia

(X) Love and Basketball

(X) Love Jones

(X) Sister Act

(X) Sister Act 2

(X) Ghost

(X) Dirty Dancing

(X) Roadhouse

(X) Ghost Busters

(X) Ghost Busters 2

(X) Ghost Busters 3

(X) Flushed Away

(X) Phenomenon

(X) Walk The Line

At my count...I think I have seen 239 of these movies. Maybe that is how I get so much Knitting and Crochet done...I am always watching movies! I can't help it. I love the MOVIES!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

I made this scarf for a friend of mine as a "Your My Best Friend" gift. She loves Pink...just as much as I love eyelash yarn. So, I thought I would mix a few of my favorite Yarn Bee yarns together to get this wonderful thick and visually stimulating scarf!

This works up really fast and is absolutely Beautiful! Great for a beginner who wants to experiment with some novelty yarns. Just a style note: I think the longer the better...makes a nice long line down the front of you to accentuateheight not width!

I made this wonderful scarf as a special gift for a friend of mine who was having a baby. You all know what it is like when you go to a baby shower and the mom gets all sorts of things for baby but not very much for her. Well, I thought the mom should have a little something special too so I made her this WONDERFULLY SILKY SOFT scarf out of Couture Yarn Bee Italia in Sienna (Ravelry)

LOVE this yarn. Because of the 50% nylon it is so silky soft. Really nice to work with however, I found it easier to use wooden needles vs metal since the yarn is a little slippery.

For the pattern, I decided that I really wanted a nice long "V" or the stitch definition visible so I chose a larger needle than the ball band called for and did a K1P1 Rib throughout. When I was finished I added the tassels to give it some more length and a little Ha-Cha-Cha!

She totally loved the scarf and wears it all the time. She even wore it home from the Shower! Jenni says that it goes with just about everything. That makes me feel really good that she gets real joy out of something that I made from my own two little hands.

I also made a version of this scarf in the Yarn Bee ItaliaAngelique colorway and it was stunning! I gave it away at the baby shower as a gift for winning one of the games! (Best Shower Gifts Ever...I made six knit scarves out of novelty yarns...they were a hit) Here is a picture of Laura, the girl who won the scarf.(totally wearing it out without knowing that I was going to run into her, you know what I mean those of you who only pull out the homemade scarf that so-in-so made you for Christmas how long ago when you are going to see that person!)

So, here is a pattern for those of you looking for something quick and nice to make out of your new Yarn Bee Italia Yarn:

Made in "Italia"

Yarn: 1 skein of Yarn Bee Italia in Sienna (or any colorway)

Needle: size US 13 (wood needles are good since they hold slippery yarn really well)

Hook: size US I or whatever will do the job for you! (used for adding tassels)

Pattern:

Cast On 21; work a K1P1 rib across, turn; P1K1 rib across, (you will notice that you are kniting your knits and purling your purls) turn. Repeat these two rows until the scarf measures 60+ inches, Bind off.Tassels:

Cut the yarn in to strands *remember you will fold this in half so cut the yarn double the length you want the tassels to be* (as shown is approx.10 inches then folded in half).

Pick one end of the scarf and using a size I crochet hook attach one or two strands at a time to each stitch across the width of the scarf. So, if you are attaching one strand you will need 22 if you are attaching two strands to one stitch you will need 44. (as shown is one strand to each stitch)